U.S. patent application number 11/967741 was filed with the patent office on 2009-07-02 for instant messaging transcript sharing for added participants to an instant messaging session.
This patent application is currently assigned to INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Angela Richards Jones, Ruthie D. Lyle.
Application Number | 20090172111 11/967741 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40799899 |
Filed Date | 2009-07-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090172111 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Jones; Angela Richards ; et
al. |
July 2, 2009 |
INSTANT MESSAGING TRANSCRIPT SHARING FOR ADDED PARTICIPANTS TO AN
INSTANT MESSAGING SESSION
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the
art in respect to instant messaging and provide a method, system
and computer program product for instant messaging transcript
sharing for added participants to an instant messaging session. In
one embodiment of the invention, a method for instant messaging
transcript sharing for added participants to an instant messaging
session can be provided. The method can include establishing an
instant messaging session as between a set of initial parties,
aggregating postings from the initial parties into a transcript,
adding a new party to the instant messaging session, and sharing at
least a portion of the transcript in a transcript view for the new
party. Optionally, an ability of the new party to log shared
portions of the transcript can be limited or prohibited.
Inventors: |
Jones; Angela Richards;
(Durham, NC) ; Lyle; Ruthie D.; (Durham,
NC) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CAREY, RODRIGUEZ, GREENBERG & PAUL, LLP;STEVEN M. GREENBERG
950 PENINSULA CORPORATE CIRCLE, SUITE 3020
BOCA RATON
FL
33487
US
|
Assignee: |
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
CORPORATION
Armonk
NY
|
Family ID: |
40799899 |
Appl. No.: |
11/967741 |
Filed: |
December 31, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
709/206 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 51/04 20130101;
H04L 12/1822 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/206 |
International
Class: |
G06F 15/16 20060101
G06F015/16 |
Claims
1. A method for instant messaging transcript sharing for added
participants to an instant messaging session, the method
comprising: establishing an instant messaging session as between a
set of initial parties; aggregating postings from the initial
parties into a transcript; adding a new party to the instant
messaging session; and, sharing at least a portion of the
transcript in a transcript view for the new party.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising limiting an ability of
the new party to log shared portions of the transcript.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising prohibiting the new
party from logging shared portions of the transcript.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising issuing notice to the
set of initial parties that at least a portion of the transcript
has been shared with the new party.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein sharing at least a portion of the
transcript in a transcript view for the new party, comprises
sharing at least a portion of the transcript in the transcript view
for the new party as set forth in transcript sharing criteria
established prior to rendering the transcript view by an inviting
one of the set of initial parties.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein sharing at least a portion of the
transcript in a transcript view for the new party, comprises
sharing at least a portion of the transcript in a transcript view
for the new party external to an instant messaging client for the
new party.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein sharing at least a portion of the
transcript in a transcript view for the new party, comprises
sharing at least a portion of the transcript in a transcript view
for the new party within an instant messaging client for the new
party.
8. An instant messaging data processing system comprising: an
instant messaging server configured for communicative coupling to a
plurality of instant messaging clients over a computer
communications network; and, transcript sharing logic coupled to at
least one of the instant messaging server and the instant messaging
clients, the logic comprising program code enabled to aggregating
postings from initial parties to an instant messaging session into
a transcript, and to share at least a portion of the transcript in
a transcript view for a new party added to the instant messaging
session.
9. The system of claim 8, wherein the program code is further
enabled to limit an ability of the new party to log portions of the
transcript.
10. The system of claim 8, wherein the transcript sharing logic is
disposed in the instant messaging server.
11. The system of claim 8, wherein the transcript sharing logic is
disposed in each of the instant messaging clients.
12. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium
embodying computer usable program code for instant messaging
transcript sharing for added participants to an instant messaging
session, the computer program product comprising: computer usable
program code for establishing an instant messaging session as
between a set of initial parties; computer usable program code for
aggregating postings from the initial parties into a transcript;
computer usable program code for adding a new party to the instant
messaging session; and, computer usable program code for sharing at
least a portion of the transcript in a transcript view for the new
party.
13. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising
computer usable program code for limiting an ability of the new
party to log shared portions of the transcript.
14. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising
computer usable program code for prohibiting the new party from
logging shared portions of the transcript.
15. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising
computer usable program code for issuing notice to the set of
initial parties that at least a portion of the transcript has been
shared with the new party.
16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the computer
usable program code for sharing at least a portion of the
transcript in a transcript view for the new party, comprises
computer usable program code for sharing at least a portion of the
transcript in the transcript view for the new party as set forth in
transcript sharing criteria established prior to rendering the
transcript view by an inviting one of the set of initial
parties.
17. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the computer
usable program code for sharing at least a portion of the
transcript in a transcript view for the new party, comprises
computer usable program code for sharing at least a portion of the
transcript in a transcript view for the new party external to an
instant messaging client for the new party.
18. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the computer
usable program code for sharing at least a portion of the
transcript in a transcript view for the new party, comprises
computer usable program code for sharing at least a portion of the
transcript in a transcript view for the new party within an instant
messaging client for the new party.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to the field of instant
messaging and more particularly to the addition of participants to
an ongoing instant messaging session.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] The rapid development of the Internet has led to advanced
modes of communication and collaboration. Using the Internet as a
backbone, individuals worldwide can converge in cyberspace to share
ideas, documents and images in a manner not previously possible
through conventional telephony and video conferencing. To
facilitate collaboration over the Internet, a substantial
collection of technologies and protocols have been assembled to
effectively deliver audio, video and data over the single data
communications medium of the Internet. These technologies include
document libraries, instant messaging, chat rooms, and application
sharing.
[0005] Conventional collaborative computing includes combinations
of collaborative technologies in order to provide a means for
members of a collaborative community to pool their strengths and
experiences to achieve a common goal. A collaborative computing
community generally can be defined by (1) a particular context,
i.e. the objective of the environment, (2) membership, i.e., the
participants in the environment, (3) a set of roles for the
members, and (4) resources and tools which can be accessed by the
membership in furtherance of the objective of the environment.
Roles are names given to the people in the environment which
dictate access to the resources and tools within the environment as
well as define the behavior of the community members.
[0006] Amongst often used collaborative components in a
collaborative environment, instant messaging remains of paramount
importance. In an instant messaging environment, one or more
collaborators can exchange messages shown to be arranged in a
single space visible by all. Thus, the instant messaging component
aims to mimic a human-to-human conversation in which the real-time
nature of the exchange of written conversation between participants
can be limited only by the speed in which participants can read,
digest and reply to the contributions of other contributors who are
party to the instant messaging session.
[0007] In many cases, an instant messaging session involves two
parties to an instant messaging session. As a party posts an
instant messaging to the instant messaging session, the posting can
appear in a common view of the conversation visible as a transcript
to each of the parties. During the course of a given instant
messaging session, either party to the instant messaging session
can invite a third party to join the instant messaging session. The
ability to add additional parties to an ongoing instant messaging
session can be important just in the same way it can be important
to involve additional persons in a face to face conversation as
important issues implicating additional persons arise in the course
of the face to face conversation.
[0008] When adding new parties to an ongoing instant messaging
session, the newly added parties receive a common view to the
instant messaging session--namely the transcript. Yet, the
transcript visible in the instant messaging client for the added
party reflects only those postings which occur subsequent to the
added party joining the instant messaging session. All prior
postings are omitted from the transcript for the added party. It
will be recognized, however, that omitting postings from the
transcript occurring prior to the addition of the added party can
result in the newly added party lacking context necessary to
adequately participate in the instant messaging session.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of
the art in respect to instant messaging and provide a novel and
non-obvious method, system and computer program product for instant
messaging transcript sharing for added participants to an instant
messaging session. In one embodiment of the invention, a method for
instant messaging transcript sharing for added participants to an
instant messaging session can be provided. The method can include
establishing an instant messaging session as between a set of
initial parties, aggregating postings from the initial parties into
a transcript, adding a new party to the instant messaging session,
and sharing at least a portion of the transcript in a transcript
view for the new party. Optionally, an ability of the new party to
log shared portions of the transcript can be limited or
prohibited.
[0010] In another embodiment of the invention, an instant messaging
data processing system can be provided. The system can include an
instant messaging server configured for communicative coupling to
instant messaging clients over a computer communications network.
The system also can include transcript sharing logic coupled to at
least one of the instant messaging server and the instant messaging
clients. The logic can include program code enabled to aggregating
postings from initial parties to an instant messaging session into
a transcript, and to share at least a portion of the transcript in
a transcript view for a new party added to the instant messaging
session. Optionally, the transcript sharing logic can be disposed
in the instant messaging server or in each of the instant messaging
clients.
[0011] Additional aspects of the invention will be set forth in
part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious
from the description, or may be learned by practice of the
invention. The aspects of the invention will be realized and
attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly
pointed out in the appended claims. It is to be understood that
both the foregoing general description and the following detailed
description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not
restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and
constitute part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of
the invention and together with the description, serve to explain
the principles of the invention. The embodiments illustrated herein
are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the
invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and
instrumentalities shown, wherein:
[0013] FIG. 1 is a pictorial illustration of a process for instant
messaging transcript sharing for added participants to an instant
messaging session;
[0014] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an instant messaging
data processing system configured for instant messaging transcript
sharing for added participants to an instant messaging session;
and,
[0015] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a process for instant
messaging transcript sharing for added participants to an instant
messaging session.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] Embodiments of the present invention provide a method,
system and computer program product for instant messaging
transcript sharing for added participants to an instant messaging
session. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention,
an instant messaging session can be established as between two or
more initial parties contributing postings to a transcript for the
instant messaging session through respective instant messaging
clients. Thereafter, a new party can be added to the instant
messaging session. In consequence, at least a portion of the
transcript can be provided to the new party for viewing. The
portion provided can be determined manually by the initial party
directing the addition of the new party, by an administrator for
the instant messaging session, or according to established
rules.
[0017] In further illustration, FIG. 1 pictorially depicts a
process for instant messaging transcript sharing for added
participants to an instant messaging session. As shown in FIG. 1,
an instant messaging session can be established as between an
initial set of parties. Each party can provide postings to the
instant messaging session through a respective instant messaging
client 110. The postings by the initial parties to the instant
messaging session can be reflected in a transcript common for the
initial parties in each respective instant messaging client 110.
Notably, the instant messaging client 110 can provide a user
interface control for adding a new party to the instant messaging
session.
[0018] Responsive to the activation of the user interface control
for adding a new party to the instant messaging session, an add
user dialog 120 can be provided. Aside from identifying the party
or parties to be invited to join the instant messaging session, the
add user dialog 120 further can provide controls to determine
whether or not to share existing portions of the transcript for the
instant messaging session with the newly invited party or parties.
In this regard, the entirety of the transcript can be shared, a
selected portion of the transcript can be shared, or the decision
can defer to the rights provided to the moderator for the instant
messaging session.
[0019] Once a new party has been invited to join the instant
messaging session (and presuming that the new party has accepted
the invitation), an instant messaging client 130 can be provided to
the new party. The instant messaging client 130 can permit the new
party to post messages to the instant messaging session.
Additionally, the transcript rendered within the instant messaging
client 130 can reflect not only postings occurring subsequent to
the new party having joined the instant messaging session, but also
postings in the transcript provided prior to the new party joining
the instant messaging session. The extent of the prior postings
provided in the instant messaging client 130 can depend upon the
controls selected in the add user dialog 120.
[0020] Once the new party has joined the instant messaging session,
the instant messaging clients 140 of the initial set of parties can
reflect the postings of the new party. Additionally, an indication
can be provided in the instant messaging clients 140 that some or
all of the postings existing prior to the new party joining the
instant messaging session have been shared with the new party.
Optionally, the instant messaging client 130 for the new party can
permit the logging not only of the postings provided subsequent to
the new party joining the instant messaging session, but also those
prior posting provided in the instant messaging client 130
depending upon security rights specified at the time of inviting
the new party to the instant messaging session.
[0021] The process shown in FIG. 1 can be implemented in an instant
messaging data processing system. In illustration, FIG. 2
schematically depicts an instant messaging data processing system
configured for instant messaging transcript sharing for added
participants to an instant messaging session. The system can
include a host server 210 communicatively coupled to multiple
different computing devices 220 over computer communications
network 230. The host server 210 can support the operation of an
instant messaging server 240 providing instant messaging services
to different instant messaging clients 250 corresponding
individually to different ones of the computing devices 220.
[0022] Importantly, transcript sharing logic 300 can be coupled to
the instant messaging clients 250 and the instant messaging server
240. The logic 300 can include program code enabled to share
transcript portions for an existing instant messaging session with
a newly added party to the instant messaging session. The portions
of an existing transcript shared can depend upon manual settings by
an inviting party to the instant messaging session, a set of
instant messaging rights 260 set forth expressly or by inheritance
in connection with the instant messaging session, or both. The
program code of the logic 300 further can be enabled to manage
logging by the newly added party of the portions of the existing
transcript again depending upon the set of instant messaging rights
260 set forth expressly or by inheritance in connection with the
instant messaging session, or both.
[0023] In yet further illustration of the operation of the
transcript sharing logic 300, FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a
process for instant messaging transcript sharing for added
participants to an instant messaging session. Beginning in block
310, an instant messaging session can be initialized and in block
320, postings can be accepted for the session from a set of initial
parties to the instant messaging session. In block 330, a new party
can be added to the instant messaging session. Prior to rendering a
transcript view in an instant messaging client for the newly added
party, however, transcript sharing criteria can be consulted.
[0024] The transcript sharing criteria can be set forth manually at
the time of inviting the new party, automatically according to
rules, or both. The transcript sharing criteria can specify whether
all, a portion or none of the transcript is to be shared in the
transcript view for the newly added party. The transcript sharing
criteria further can specify whether or not the newly added party
is permitted to log postings from shared portions of the transcript
existing prior to the addition of the new party to the instant
messaging session. Examples include being permitted only to view
the postings, to view and log the postings, to view the postings
and log only the textual portions and not audio portions of the
postings, or to inherit the rights of the inviting party.
[0025] Thereafter, in block 350 the transcript view can be
generated for the newly added party to the instant messaging
session. In this regard, the transcript view can be provided within
the instant messaging client for the newly added party, or the
transcript view can be provided in a separate view from the instant
messaging client for the newly added party. In decision block 360,
if sharing of any of the postings is permitted, then in block 370
notice can be provided to the set of initial parties to the instant
messaging session as well. In either case, the process can end in
block 380.
[0026] Embodiments of the invention can take the form of an
entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an
embodiment containing both hardware and software elements. In a
preferred embodiment, the invention is implemented in software,
which includes but is not limited to firmware, resident software,
microcode, and the like. Furthermore, the invention can take the
form of a computer program product accessible from a
computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code
for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction
execution system.
[0027] For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or
computer readable medium can be any apparatus that can contain,
store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by
or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus,
or device. The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical,
electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or
device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable
medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic
tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM),
a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical
disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk-read
only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD.
[0028] A data processing system suitable for storing and/or
executing program code will include at least one processor coupled
directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. The
memory elements can include local memory employed during actual
execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories
which provide temporary storage of at least some program code in
order to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from
bulk storage during execution. Input/output or I/O devices
(including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing
devices, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directly or
through intervening I/O controllers. Network adapters may also be
coupled to the system to enable the data processing system to
become coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers
or storage devices through intervening private or public networks.
Modems, cable modem and Ethernet cards are just a few of the
currently available types of network adapters.
* * * * *